» that fated shore

That Fated Shore trilogy is a black comedy on time travel. The main characters only have three possible destinations: dead, destitute or deranged. But there are a few laughs along the way.

Here’s the idea: The unlikeliest of all humans has somehow invented a method for passing information backwards and forwards in time–at least that’s the claim of the business that he has founded, “Anachronistics Incorporated” (AI).

AI has quickly become the most powerful business on Earth. Not because of the number of employees or even their gross receipts but merely because they seem to be able to answer any questions that any business owner has about himself, his family, his employees and even his competition. Of course, the answers come with a price.

The title comes from a play that one of the minor characters is writing about his experiences in Timefall, KY, the headquarters for Anachronistics, Incorporated. In the play, there is a lament that equates the owner of AI with an imp that has grasped the Hourglass of Time, broken it in two and poured out its sand to create a “shore” that calls travelers to their destruction.

The lament ends with the title of the series, “But hung, the emptied, windswept Hour clangs loud its grunting, fested ‘frain and beckons more to shipwreck on that Fated Shore.”

(It’s not as heavy as it sounds! It really is a comedy…albeit a dark comedy.)

That Fated Shore is available in the following editions: